To be frank, human life, as a whole, is irrelevant when compared to other life forms, as a whole. Sure, we're the most intelligent species on Earth, as far as we know, but that doesn't mean we're worth more. According to a new estimate, there are 8.8 million species on Earth. Each is an essential part of the biosphere. They have predators, and they have prey. They make and/or consume oxygen. They filter the oceans. Humans (the species; not our accomplishments; we have done some pretty amazing things) are not essential to the biosphere. We have no predators. We don't even have prey, technically; we don't eat exclusively this or that. We consume oxygen, sure, but that's about it. We manipulate other species through selective breeding to suit our purposes, regardless of what it does to the species in question.To put the human species above all other species is to value humans 8.8 million times more than other species. I'll put that into numbers:1/8.8 million is: 1.13636364*10-7, or 0.0000000113636364%. That's how much of Earth's biosphere humans represent. To put this into more numbers, there are 100 trillion bacteria in each human body. Even if we only took the bacteria in one human, they outnumber humans as a whole approximately 14285.7:1.Which is not to say that human life is irrelevant. Just that when we do things like this, we need to think beyond ourselves. We need to realize that we're not the center of the Universe[1]. We're not even the center of the world.

To be frank, human life, as a whole, is irrelevant when compared to other life forms, as a whole. Sure, we're the most intelligent species on Earth, as far as we know, but that doesn't mean we're worth more. According to a new estimate, there are 8.8 million species on Earth. Each is an essential part of the biosphere. They have predators, and they have prey. They make and/or consume oxygen. They filter the oceans. Humans (the species; not our accomplishments; we have done some pretty amazing things) are not essential to the biosphere. We have no predators. We don't even have prey, technically; we don't eat exclusively this or that. We consume oxygen, sure, but that's about it. We manipulate other species through selective breeding to suit our purposes, regardless of what it does to the species in question.To put the human species above all other species is to value humans 8.8 million times more than other species. I'll put that into numbers:1/8.8 million is: 1.13636364*10-7, or 0.0000000113636364%. That's how much of Earth's biosphere humans represent. To put this into more numbers, there are 100 trillion bacteria in each human body. Even if we only took the bacteria in one human, they outnumber humans as a whole approximately 14285.7:1.Which is not to say that human life is irrelevant. Just that when we do things like this, we need to think beyond ourselves. We need to realize that we're not the center of the Universe[1]. We're not even the center of the world.

Well I sure can't argue with that. Excellent post One. Very impressive number skills.

Thanks.I do want to stress, again, that I am not saying human life is irrelevant. Just that, when we take into account the other species as a whole, one species (that doesn't even contribute to the biosphere in any significant way, I might add), is irrelevant. That's why we've been able to exterminate viruses without any harm to the biosphere. They are not alive, technically, but even if they were, they don't really do anything other than kill other beings. They don't breathe. They don't eat, nor are they eaten. They don't reproduce (not really). They do nothing aside from causing death.

Well I sure can't argue with that. Excellent post One. Very impressive number skills.

Thanks.I do want to stress, again, that I am not saying human life is irrelevant. Just that, when we take into account the other species as a whole, one species (that doesn't even contribute to the biosphere in any significant way, I might add), is irrelevant. That's why we've been able to exterminate viruses without any harm to the biosphere. They are not alive, technically, but even if they were, they don't really do anything other than kill other beings. They don't breathe. They don't eat, nor are they eaten. They don't reproduce (not really). They do nothing aside from causing death.

I'll give you another thumbs up in an hour.

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when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change